Simone Bowles, a two-year Design Suite member, discusses with Carina Gardner about the incredible success and money she has made after joining the program in this podcast. She begins by talking about how she chose a career that was not quite creative enough for her.
Simone states, “I read this book by Julia Donaldson called the Artist’s Way, and she said that a lot of people who were creative go into careers that are almost creative.” In a world brimming with opportunities, the journey of fulfilling one’s creative and entrepreneurial aspirations can often feel like a daunting task. Simone took a leap of faith that many are afraid to do, leaving her past career and pursuing her creative dreams by joining the Design Suite program, tailored for aspiring designers who want to make money with their creations.
“In terms of actual graphic design, I knew nothing,” Simone explains, “I came from a world that was so different. [I felt like] the imposter, like ‘how am I going to do this?’ …But then I [remembered] that they chose me for a reason… It grew me in so many ways… and if you were to ask me the year before ‘would I do freelance graphic design’, it would be a definite no… I thought it would be so hard.”
Simone went into the program with hardly any experience of creative design. However, as the process went on for her, passion was ignited, breathing life into her artistic visions. She quickly found a love for what she was doing. She explained that, “This is for me, I want all of the things,” as the program went on for her. After the first year of the program, there was so much that Simone learned. She felt the strong desire to continue for another year, allowing her to make lots of money from this. “Honestly I feel like I can call myself a designer now… once you do, the jobs come!” Opportunity was met with hard work, and Simone’s work took off.
When talking about her success, Simone stated, “Just be open to the path that [comes] to you. If you try to go down one road you get so much resistance… I made the money within my second year [of the program]… I made enough to pay for the kids’ school tuition which isn’t cheap… and that was in my second year!”
After the decision was made to pursue this dream of Simone’s, she was rewarded. Design Suite is the catalyst for inspiration to make money, and Simone did just that in her second year of the journey. She was extremely grateful and emotional over the success she has reaped in the podcast when explaining the money she made to pay for the tuition of her kids’ educations. You truly get what you pay for when you join the Design Suite courses, along with opportunity and fulfillment bursting at the seams.
Not only did Simone make a great amount of money, she also built incredible relationships with those in the Design Suite community, which is huge. Simone goes on to say, “It’s key… I just know people I can go to who are now friends of mine… in the sewing world… in the patent world… in the papercraft world… that is gold.” She continues by saying, “There’s so many things [that make Design Suite good value]… It really is the community and the information… Design Suite has those supports.”
From all across the globe, there are members of the Design Suite program, and these members build one another up, offer advice, help, and friendship, taking things to a more meaningful level through this program. This brings that human connection that is missing in a lot of programs.
The opportunities are endless when becoming a member of Design Suite and embarking on the journey, allowing for personal and professional growth. The program serves as a catalyst for self-discovery, empowering individuals to leverage their strengths and carry out their niches in the creative landscape. Simone Bowles is an excellent example of this coming to reality.
To access Simone’s business and creations, you can follow her on Instagram: @_simonebowles_ or find her on Etsy: SBPARTYPRINTABLES.
If you want to watch the entire interview with Simone here:
Or listen to the podcast here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2040698/14510635-episode-415-making-money-as-a-designer-with-simone-bowles.mp3?download=true
Many people dream of creating a surface pattern design business or businesses in the craft field like sublimation, Cricut or Silhouette files, Glowforge files, or printables. As my own design business has flourished over the last 14 years, I have turned part of my focus to helping other designers get started in this field.
Yes, my daughter wanted me to make her an octopus costume for her birthday. So how could I refuse? I kept it simple by buying a t-shirt (with the gems already on it) and women’s long socks. Add some filling, a t-shirt transfer kit and my sewing machine and I was set. The only problem? Once I made one for my oldest daughter, I had to make a second one for my youngest daughter. Thankfully, it’s project that can be done in a couple of hours.
1. I bought a package of Dark T-shirt transfers and a few t-shirts in blue and dark pink. I picked them all up at Target but many places would have these goods.
Finally! After a crazy two days I have a chance to write about DSE! Thursday afternoon I taught an Illustrator class at the Digital Scrapbooking Experience in Provo, Utah. Jen Allyson flew in from San Francisco to help me out.
photos of Jen and Gen sporting the barrette version you could make. We also had laundry clips and pipe cleaner for attaching to badges or making wristlets. The papers we used for the table all came from my 
So after not quite 2 years as a digital designer, here I am with my very first book. I kept it really cohesive by only using certain colors and elements. I stuck to the 
I got the book just in time for